Where On Earth (Week 5): Cape Point

by Willy Volk on

This week’s Where on Earth stumped some people, confused some others, and was a breeze for one person: Bob. This image of directional signs, shot by Desired, is located at Cape Point, in South Africa.

At the tip of the Cape Peninsula – 36 miles southwest of Cape Town – the rugged rocks and sheer cliffs here “divide” the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Though often called the southernmost tip of Africa, this is not true. Cape Agulhas, 90 miles east, is the true southernmost point; Cape Point is the most southwesterly point on the continent.

I visited Cape point in 2001 and was overwhelmed by the fresh salt breezes (coming straight from the Antarctic), the verdant landscape, the blazing beaches, and the sheer walls of the Point. It was amazing. Boasting 250 species of birds and more than 1100 species of indigenous plants, this area is home to a variety of other animals, too — including some very aggressive baboons who will swipe your snacks if you’re not careful!

If you ever find yourself in Cape Town with an extra day, be sure to get yourself down to the Point and have a look around. It’s certainly a detour worth making.

Get Your Own Rhino

by Erik Olsen on


You’ve had the rambunctious German Shepherd now for five years. He’s getting old and he’s not as much fun anymore. Sure, he’s still cute, you’re not going to put hm to sleep or anything, but you are wondering how you might eventually replace him with another pet. Where can you find an animal that’s big enough to rough-house with and yet also kind of, you know, exotic? What about Africa?

Yes, here is your chance to get your hands on your very own rhinoceros. South African National Parks is selling as many as 100 white rhinoceroses from Kruger National Park to the general public. That means not just zoos and parks and maybe crazy billionaires. But YOU. Yes YOU can have your very own rhino. And to be honest the price isn’t so bad. The rhinos will cost from $9,000 to $37,000 each, depending on sex. According to this piece over at Nat Geo Adventure, females are the most expensive and have to be sold with their young so as not to separate mother and calf.

This sounds like a deal too good to be true. Just think of the stares you’ll get strolling down Park Avenue with a rhino on a leash. And the conversations you’ll have! The biggest issue, I think, will be getting the rhinos to your home from Africa. Maybe try UPS.

Oh, and if you feel like doing a little rhino origami…well, check out this link.

World’s Highest Swings

by Willy Volk on

When I was in Zambia, I tried the Zambezi Gorge Swing, which was probably the scariest — and most fun! — thing I’ve ever done. Essentially, you strap into a chest harness and step off a gorge. Initially, you plummet straight down for 160 feet, but then the ropes catch a line that spans the gorge. Immediately, the rope becomes taught and catches you, allowing you to you swing back and forth, like a pendulum. Nothing in my experience has ever shifted from terror to joy so quickly. I had always thought the Zambezi Gorge Swing was the world’s highest swing, but it’s not. I think it’s the third highest.

The second highest swing appears to be at New Zealand’s Shotover Canyon. With a 200-foot free fall, and a 660-foot arc, swingers enjoy can aerial views of the beautiful Shotover River — assuming, of course, their eyes are open.

Finally, there’s South Africa’s Oribi Gorge Swing. With a 254-foot free fall but only a 330-foot arc, swingers can race water droplets from nearby Lehr’s Falls to the river below.

So what makes for a more fun swing? A longer free fall or a wider arc?

Round The World in 100 Days: Fantastic Voyage

by Dia Draper on

“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. ” -attributed to a 1901 Times of London newspaper ad allegedly placed by Ernest Shackleton, famous explorer and sailor.

In the “You Lucky Dog” category, I’ll be heading out shortly for more than 100 days of round the world (RTW) travel by sea. I’m thick in the throes of prepping for almost 4 months aboard the ship MV Explorer and praying that this voyage will be less susceptible than Shackleton’s to things like pirates, mutiny, and beri-beri.

After 9 years, 3 applications, and some good juju, I was selected for a post with Semester at Sea (SAS). Now I’m going to attempt to circumnavigate the globe without leaving the earth’s surface-which means I’ll have to endure the scary prospect of traveling overland from San Diego back home to the east coast. I’m looking forward to an amazing , once-in-a-lifetime voyage as we sail east around the globe from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to:

Nassau, Bahamas
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Salvador, Brazil
Cape Town, South Africa
Port Louis, Mauritius
Chennai, India
Penang, Malaysia
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Hong Kong
Qingdao, China
Kobe, Japan
Honolulu, Hawaii
San Diego, California

SAS is an academic study abroad program that uses a converted cruise ship as a floating university campus to educate the students on these popular voyages through both classroom techniques and field experiences, in a host of countries around the world.

The program also had its 15 minutes of mainstream fame, when it was featured on a season of MTV’s “Road Rules.” I am smitten with the fact that there are community service opportunities in nearly every port and the students have a long history for generosity of time and money on these forays into second and third-world areas. In the fall they sail west around the world, and in the summer they concentrate on a region such as Latin America or Europe.

Our trip as I mentioned, sails east chasing the rising sun, which means we should have pretty good weather, but we will lose 24 hours in a series of daylight savings time-esque one hour “spring forwards” as we circle the globe, the good news is that we’ll get a “Groundhog Day”-like experience when we live April 30th twice when we cross the international date line.

I first learned of SAS during a trip to Kenya with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) where I ran into an SAS alumni who was there volunteering with the Peace Corps. Nolan raved about the program and how it changed his life by expanding his view of the world and his place in it. My alma mater (The University of Virginia) recently became the academic sponsor for the program and my conversation with Nolan and subsequent research ignited my passion for the program back in 1997.

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to live at the intersection of two of my passions-travel and education. And so, I am raiding Blue Ridge Mountain Sports with a giftcard I got for Christmas, and Wal-Mart for all things waterproof. I’ve been stocking up on my favorite gum, favorite chapstick, ziploc bags, and downloading so much music that my iPod is so hot its about to catch fire. And yes, I did download “The Love Boat“, everything by The Captain & Tennille, and I love “Wish I” by Jem, so I’m fired up from head to Teva’d toe (actually I’m all about my Crocs these days) for this trip.

I’ve been working hard to get my day-to-day life together to a point where I can travel like this, seize these types of opportunities and combine my many hobbies, passions, and interests with any excuse to hit the road. I left full-time work last February, and I have been freelancing and traveling since then, so the offer to join SAS came at a perfect time in my life where I find myself free of many of the usual restrictions, responsibilities, and obligations (is anybody hating me right now?).

While I am enjoying this lifestyle, it does have its own sacrifices. Chief among them are not having my own home which means I sleep on Disney themed sheets, in a single bed, in the bottom bunk of my nephew’s room when I’m not wandering.

I can’t wrap my head around traveling with 900 other people this way, and I do wonder how it will alter the experience. I’m not a strictly solo traveler. I like traveling all sorts of ways and my last trip (3.5 months in Mexico) included a stint with The Green Tortoise (adventure travel with 30 other people), mostly solo travel, and travel with friends at various points throughout the journey. Each experience was amazing in its own way and for its own reasons.

I love traveling by myself and without a schedule or a plan. This trip will be the antithesis of that, with carefully plotted arrivals and departures. I enjoy those lazy travel days when reading a whole book or taking hours to stroll through a museum seem like the most amazing of accomplishments. And who doesn’t enjoy being able to run off to Borneo when you had initially thought that Burma was where you’d head next?

I have traveled pretty widely but I’ve never been to any of the places on our itinerary so my excitement includes a learning curve both intellectual (learning about each country) and personal (scaling plans down to my absolute “must see/must do” items).

Though I’ve never been on a large ship before, I have sailed on schooners, dhows, and pangas, so I’m relatively sure that I’m not prone to seasickness. However I admit that I have an acute fear of open water and an irrational fear of heights, and in my opinion a ship of this size combines the worst of those two elements! After reading Iva’s “Murder on the High Seas” post, I’m not taking any chances. I might have to spring for this Gadget or this Watch, just in case someone pushes me overboard.

Fortunately, my curiosity gets the better of me and I haven’t let either of these anxieties stop me before. I’ve snorkeled off the coast of Kenya, pet a 16m Grey Whale, and sailed through the most amazing biolumenescence you can imagine. So I am confident that I’ll face these fears head on because there’s no way I’m not getting on that ship for the trip of a lifetime. Join me as we chase the sun at 20 mph.

I have already had so many e-mails from people offering to be my: husband, wife, sherpa, cabin boy, porter, chambermaid, best friend, etc. that I’m considering starting an e-bay bid for the extra bed in my cabin.

Detour Worth Making: Nieu Bethesda’s Owl House

by Willy Volk on

Of all the side trips I’ve taken, the most interesting was a visit to Helen Martins’ Owl House. Born in 1897, “Miss Helen” suffered through a failed marriage, the death of her parents, and then, in her 40s or 50s, found herself alone in the dry, dusty, desolate Klein Karoo of central South Africa. Surrounded entirely by brown, Miss Helen decided to transform her environment. She hired local workers to install large panes of glass in her modest home. She began casting concrete-and-glass figures — playful, haunting, flat, but passionate — that she assembled around her property…maybe to keep her company. All 300+ of the figures face east.

Simultaneously, Miss Helen began collecting colored glass, grinding it to a fine powder, covering the interior walls of her home with glue, and spraying them with the glass. The effect — brilliant, shiny, kaleidoscopic, and dreamy — was more striking than paint. Unfortunately, it was also more dangerous, as her eyes, damaged from fine bits of flying glass, soon failed. In 1976, she committed suicide by swallowing caustic soda. Athol Fugard wrote a play, The Road to Mecca, about her, and This Is My World is a photo-essay of her dreamscape-home.

Today, the Owl House stands as a tribute to this reclusive yet inspired woman. Smack in the middle of still-tiny Nieu Bethesda, this rural community has grown into a small but thriving artist’s colony. Though hours from the coast, it’s absolutely worth an overnight.